Thursday, March 31

2 Comments:

that's a fine article, real fine. I haven't read, but am very familiar with ecotopia, and I would say that my friends and I live each day with the idea that we are moving closer to achieving many of those goals.We've recently moved our petroleum free transportation habit out of the city limits, at least jack and I, and we've inspired our friends to try the same. The next big goal is to make it in a small group to SF by bike, then back again, maybe the second half of june. Then, end of july, we'd like to try the trek back to MT, to see how it will be the day that nobody can afford to drive that stretch anymore. We hope that before that time comes, we can have several small sustainable artist communities established and the distances between us will be much smaller. And yes, every one of my friends is an artist, and my favorite artists at that. Kyle, Aaron and I spent the night working at the craft center on Brent's birthday present (his 22nd on aprill 22nd), a set of the 16 runes he uses to do readings, made out of copper and wood, (Ash, I think). While we were working, andy came in and pitched in, jack and yoko came by and checked on the glass beads they made in the back, and my friend logan taught a bookbinding class. We have freestyle poets, dancers, photographers, musicians, mechanics, tinkers and thinkers, and we all have embraced the creative lifestyle, because much like martin luther king when he says" human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted", we believe that our salvation lies in our creative maladjustments. We've all begun approaching the problems we wee in society on a personal level, localizing if you will, and realizing that it doesn't matter who is president if you had a damn good day and are presently having the time of your life (for afterall, what else could you be having, the time of someone else's life?). Jack and I had this long talk on the coast after our day riding out there, about moving the concentration away from what should happen to what is happening, right now, and becoming more active in making our lives exactly what we want them to be right now, not when things change. The next day we stopped at a cafe run by a cooperative community that has been around for 32 years and was based on a bunch of people who felt, almost word for word (I read it on the back of the menu), the very same way. the community we are building is becoming incredible, in its diversity and its range of amazing people. We are all very free spirited, and each day become more so, and we see a shared value amongst all of us that emphasizes friendship and community over a nice house, a car, and anything else that comes rushing to the front of the american dream. I think as many of us prepare to move away, we all realize that it will be hard to accomplish this, but what truely makes us happy is worth working towards, and we have seen many examples that tell us it will be done.

it doesn't matter who is president if you had a damn good day and are presently having the time of your life (for afterall, what else could you be having, the time of someone else's life?)

I like that, Gabe -- like that way of seeing things.

Have you heard about that cafe/restaurant ( I think it's in salt lake city) that doesn't have set prices on it's menu? I think i told you about it before -- Helen Claire sent me an article about it a couple years ago. They just have a blurbl on their menu (I think on a chalboard) that you decide what you should pay for your meal after you have eaten, and based on how much you think it's worth/can afford. It works because what people think it's worth, how much $ they have and can "afford" all seem to balance out at the end of the day.

I'd love to have an artist's craft center like you describe where you all were working on Brent's bday present, here close to home in Helena. Maybe I should start one with all my copious spare time?